I like the structure. Where does the Dingoo fit in? Gen 4? There are also modern Android players now - gen 5?

One issue with handhelds is that the generations may have start dates but no end dates. for instance, you can buy handheld famicoms, or the new Atari flashback portable, etc. These system on a chip may be like generation 3-4, etc. Its complicated.

I was reading about those Dingoo and Gizmondo things as well as others. I have never heard of them, nor have I ever seen them on the shelves of any store ever. Same with the Android players. Outside of specialty sites and ebay, I dont know what kind of release they get, but I have never seen them in the wild.

As for the emulator systems like the Atari and Sega ones, I dont know if they count. I think those might have their own category outside of everything else.

I think for the purpose of the generation chart, we should stick with name brands that offered at least some sort of competition to one or more of the big named gaming companies.

Random droid handheld emulator, or some lame-o handheld that had 4 games and was only released in Spain probably shouldnt fit in anywhere. They are like straight to video VHS movies that noone remembers or cares about.

Straight to video handhelds, eh? Maybe, but those At games units are the Tiger handhelds of today.

I have had several Gemei / Dingoo units. You can run the native OS, a modified OS or a version of Linux called Dingux. It had quite the community once, but the setup was obnoxious. Hit the wrong button and it defaults back to chinese. Solid little handheld, with a pretty decent build quality except for the screen suffering pixel death on occasion. The dingoo was my first portable media player too, before I ever had a smartphone. Android has replaced it, but it was kinda neat in its day.

scotland wrote:Straight to video handhelds, eh? Maybe, but those At games units are the Tiger handhelds of today.

I see your point, however, I will have to give Tiger credit for creating at least somewhat original content. Yes, they were emulating licenses in to their handhelds, but they were creating something original out of it. It was a new experience. It may not have been the best, but they had some amount of effort attached to them.

These new devices are just emulators that play rom dumps of past games. There isnt anything new or original about them. If they had their own proprietary software that was being developed for them, maybe there would be something to them. Instead, its just the same things released every Christmas with slightly different game line-ups.

There's no reason to count a latter-day facsimile of a Genesis or 2600 as its own system. It doesn't even pretend to be that.

I was mostly joking about the Gizmondo, but I am somewhat disappointed that the GP2X, another contemporary of the DS and PSP, hasn't been mentioned. It's a very interesting system; it runs Linux and is deliberately oriented toward homebrew development.

scotland wrote:Straight to video handhelds, eh? Maybe, but those At games units are the Tiger handhelds of today.

I see your point, however, I will have to give Tiger credit for creating at least somewhat original content.

You are correct. Tiger did have original content.

Funny story - I was repairing one, I think it was a Power Rangers unit. Inside the PCB was stamped "Motor Kombat". Not only was the board a reused Mortal Kombat board, but the misspelling was humorous.

Okay, a handheld that has nothing but retro (or mostly retro) games is out. We are making progress.

rockofhysteria wrote:Just a thought but if you are including the Tiger games in Generation one then shouldn't the Nintendo Game and Watch Line and the Coleco Light Dialed games be in there as well??

Yes to Game & Watch. By "Coleco Light Dialed" do you mean the Coleco LED and VFD games? If so, then yes again.

I think generation 1 is never ending, if companies continue to make simple original content games. For instance, when Sudoku became popular in the US a decade ago, simple handhelds were made for it. That's generation 1.

The majority of items on the electronic handheld games museum site http://www.handheldmuseum.com/ are probably generation 1. That includes the Nintendo Game & Watch, the Mattel and Coleco LED games, the many fine VFD games (VFD is the bright kind of display used often in clock radios). That site does include things that are not video games, like the Galoob and Tomytronic games that are really inventive devices that have mechanical components. (The Galoob games often have a motor, the Tomytronics may have a windup spring).

Unlike Generation 1 in video game consoles, there is a lot more diversity here. There are different technologies, different play mechanics, different control schemes, etc. Its a lot more like Generation 2 in consoles than Generation 1 in consoles.

Companies like Radica, MGA and Excalibur continued to make this style of game (probably very popular as Christmas gifts) for a long time. Some had inventive shapes, like looking like a fishing rod or bowling ball. Companies like Hasbro still do. Checking on Amazon, I see electronic handheld poker games, sudoku, blackjack, yahtzee, simon, etc are still being made. Games like Hangman, Four Score, and Battleship are probably also still being made.

There are also many systems with lots of cheap games. They are original though. The Dreamgear game units are like that. They are mass marketed, so they are not obscure. Where would those fit - still generation 1?

Gen 1 is definitely the most encompassing of the generations, as those simple LCD games have been marketed for decades now. Again though, just looking at the type of game it is, and not the quantity it has been produced in is what we are looking at.

Do the Dreamgear handhelds have original games made for them, or are they just another emulator system? Looking at their website, all of their handheld units appear to just be emulator machines. Again, I feel those have their own category. If we arent including cell phones, which emulate games, then there should be no reason to include stand alone emulators.

The Dreamgear units appear to be a mix of original games, and famicom games, from what I can tell. For instance, one unit has NES Batman as "Thunder Man", but it may also have "Fruit Cutter" which is a 2D ninja cutting falling fruit - an obviously recently made game inspired by the popular fruit ninja touchscreen game. Considering the low cost of these units, I'm thinking they may be famiclones-on-a-chip with some or all original games depending on which model you buy.

Anyone have one of these? If not, wait a few weeks, maybe Aunt Becky will get you one for the holidays.

If so, we could put 'retro system on a chip' with the emulator units as a group.

rockofhysteria wrote:Just a thought but if you are including the Tiger games in Generation one then shouldn't the Nintendo Game and Watch Line and the Coleco Light Dialed games be in there as well??

Yes to Game & Watch. By "Coleco Light Dialed" do you mean the Coleco LED and VFD games? If so, then yes again.

I think generation 1 is never ending, if companies continue to make simple original content games. For instance, when Sudoku became popular in the US a decade ago, simple handhelds were made for it. That's generation 1.

The majority of items on the electronic handheld games museum site http://www.handheldmuseum.com/ are probably generation 1. That includes the Nintendo Game & Watch, the Mattel and Coleco LED games, the many fine VFD games (VFD is the bright kind of display used often in clock radios). That site does include things that are not video games, like the Galoob and Tomytronic games that are really inventive devices that have mechanical components. (The Galoob games often have a motor, the Tomytronics may have a windup spring).

Unlike Generation 1 in video game consoles, there is a lot more diversity here. There are different technologies, different play mechanics, different control schemes, etc. Its a lot more like Generation 2 in consoles than Generation 1 in consoles.

Companies like Radica, MGA and Excalibur continued to make this style of game (probably very popular as Christmas gifts) for a long time. Some had inventive shapes, like looking like a fishing rod or bowling ball. Companies like Hasbro still do. Checking on Amazon, I see electronic handheld poker games, sudoku, blackjack, yahtzee, simon, etc are still being made. Games like Hangman, Four Score, and Battleship are probably also still being made.

There are also many systems with lots of cheap games. They are original though. The Dreamgear game units are like that. They are mass marketed, so they are not obscure. Where would those fit - still generation 1?

Those aren't the Coleco games I remember lol. The ones I grew up was a Football Game where the players were red dot lights on the field I also grew up with a Baseball Game that was pretty much the same thing wish I still had them they were a hell of a lot of fun.